Details

In the world of thrillers and mysteries, film's advantage over theater is its potential to create simultaneity. It is not Hannibal Lecter's cannibalism that shocks us but rather the experience of being within the psychological range of Lecter, Clarice Starling, and a serial killer on the loose all at once. This creates the kind of juxtaposition that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats. While technically it's much more difficult in theater to create the suspense that comes from being in three different places or minds at once, what theater can do is put the audience directly into the moment by virtue of proximity and theatricality. Playwright Horowitz rightfully chose to design this thriller as a battle of wits and a tightly woven knot of lies, illusion, and lunacy. Likewise director Joseph Adler has selected a cast whose comfort level onstage and capacity for spontaneity is so well developed, each performance of Mindgame is bound to be unique.